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Guest

...and the 46 Defense. Any Bears fan who doesn't love Buddy Ryan needs to be stripped of his "GSH" patch. As far as Bears coaches are concerned, I rank him right behind Halas. Ask Hampton, Singletary, Bell, et. al. about this guy sometime. He BELONGS in the NFL HALL OF FAME for his contributions, as a Defense Coordinator, to the game of football. God Bless, Buddy.

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Pro-Bowler

Buddy like Ditka was handed great players. Made them look way better then what they were as coaches. Like it would have mattered 46, 4-3, 3-4 or just go hit someone in the mouth D anything with them 11 guys would have worked. Good coaches are the ones that can win when your team has 1/2 players injured and the other half are out of position or are rookies now lets see what you can do coach.

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Guest

Buddy like Ditka was handed great players. Made them look way better then what they were as coaches. Like it would have mattered 46, 4-3, 3-4 or just go hit someone in the mouth D anything with them 11 guys would have worked. Good coaches are the ones that can win when your team has 1/2 players injured and the other half are out of position or are rookies now lets see what you can do coach.

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Sir, you could not possibly be MORE wrong. Please do not disrespect the most dominant defensive innovation in the history of organized athletics. Out of respect to Benjamin AND to avoid being banned from this website , I will content myself with saying that. I bid you "Good day", sir.

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Veteran

You can't take Ditka's stripes, he played the game... Buddy had Oklahoma State, but his stripes were from the Army and retired long ago (I appreciate the service).

I will say one thing and the point can be debatable when used to defend Buddy. What Rob and Rex have done for the Saints and Jets defensively has been very impressive. Both have made improvements without an unusual surplus of talent (all teams have some good players, even JAX). I am not sure how far the apple fell from DaTree...

Personally, I don't LOVE Buddy because I think he had his asshole moments (more than just a few):

But I respect his coaching because of what his players have said and because of the other moments:

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Pro-Bowler

SuperFan

I'm kinda with Muster'sGhost on this one. Buddy developed that offense with his players. Buddy and Mike hated each other, but I have to give credit to the guy who could tell Ditka to go F off and chase him out of the room.

I remember strongly criticizing Ditka's offense at the time, although I'm not sure who called the plays (Ed Hughes was the OC). I just think it was Buddy's team and he never got the respect he deserved for it.

I look at Ditka and he was a heck of a player, but his claim to coaching fame was his attitude, not his knowledge or management ability. I give him credit for the attitude. Without him, the Bears didn't win the SB. But without Buddy's D, they wouldn't have won either.

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Head Coach

Ditka is one of 2 people to have won a super bowl as: a player, an assistant coach and a head coach. For all the talk of how "overrated" he is, that's quite an accomplishment. Still, how great would it have been if Bill Walsh became our HC instead?

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Assistant Head Coach

SuperFanDBS Writer

Ditka is one of 2 people to have won a super bowl as: a player, an assistant coach and a head coach. For all the talk of how "overrated" he is, that's quite an accomplishment. Still, how great would it have been if Bill Walsh became our HC instead?

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Over time, I think old age has mellowed Mike Ditka a bit regarding he and Buddy. He explained it very well awhile back, and he was pretty humble about it too. He said that neither he, nor Buddy won a Super Bowl after they parted ways. He said that he thought they were much better when they were together, even though they didn't realize it at the time. I suspect there's some truth there.

Regarding Mike Ditka as a person, I believe he's a class-act. I work at an Illinois university. A couple of years ago, I walked across the street to get some coffee & Mike Ditka was there at the student memorial center (which is also the coffee shop here). He was talking with the student athletes & anyone who dropped in, like me. It was pretty cool. He let the young students ask him anything, about anything. It was actually very touching, and the Coach seemed to have mellowed over the years. He's made his mistakes in life, like us all, but he's also accomplished a lot, from modest and humble beginnings. If you ever get a chance to watch "A Football Life" on the NFL channel, the episode on Mike's life, it is definitely worth watching. It tells the good and the bad regarding him. He really is a very good guy, and he's been a real blessing to the Bears as a player and a coach.

I don't think he's a great coach, but he was great for us. Buddy was one reason he was so successful here.

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